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Activision Addresses Wii Third-Party Debate
By Kris Graft
Activision is confident that third-party publishers can succeed on Nintendo platforms, as the company confirmed today it is “reinvesting” in Nintendo in a way that eclipses the publisher’s prior GameCube support.
Image“[There seems to be] a common misconception about first-party vs. third-party opportunities [on Nintendo platforms],” said Activision CEO Robert Kotick in a quarterly conference call.
There have been significant rumblings related to challenges third-parties face on Nintendo platforms. While Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime argues that third parties have enjoyed more success on the Wii than Nintendo itself, Nintendo-originated games seem to dominate software sales charts for Nintendo platforms, especially in past console cycles. In effect, some have said that consumers “only buy Nintendo hardware for Nintendo games,” leaving third-parties out in the cold.
However, Kotick said this is no longer the case, because the Wii is shaping up to be more successful than Nintendo’s last home console. “[GameCube] really became a non-strategic platform for us, and most of our development effort was focused on straight ports at low costs to leverage our franchises,” he said.
Kotick said that in the past, Nintendo had an advantage when developing for its own platforms. Now third-parties like Activision can use centralized technology to take better advantage of Nintendo hardware and produce games on par with Nintendo products. “For a few generations, Nintendo software was better than third-party software. When you look at where we are today…we think we’re actually in the best position and probably even in a better position than the first-party to leverage our development dollars.
“We’re reinvesting against the Nintendo platform in a way that in the last cycle we really did not.”
He also said that the company’s hit game Guitar Hero will be a Wii standout title. “There probably is no better product to take advantage of the capabilities of the Wii than Guitar Hero,” he said.
